When David Caine, a celebrated skeptic of the supernatural, is invited by an old friend to spend a month in “the most haunted house in Virginia,” he believes the case will be like any other. But the Alexander House is different. Built by a 1700s land baron to contain the madness and depravity of his eldest son, the house is plagued by shadows of the past and the lingering taint of bloodshed. David is haunted, as well. For twenty-two years ago, he turned away the woman he loved, and she took her life in sorrow. And David suspects she’s followed him to the Alexander House. 

Things are not okay.

In the aftermath of Amandine's latest betrayal, October "Toby" Daye's fragile self-made family is on the verge of coming apart at the seams. Jazz can't sleep, Sylvester doesn't want to see her, and worst of all, Tybalt has withdrawn from her entirely, retreating into the Court of Cats as he tries to recover from his abduction. Toby is floundering, unable to help the people she loves most heal. She needs a distraction. 

She needs a quest.

What she doesn't need is the abduction of her estranged human daughter, Gillian. What she doesn't need is to be accused of kidnapping her own child by her ex-boyfriend and his new wife, who seems to be harboring secrets of her own. There's no question of whether she'll take the case. The only question is whether she's emotionally prepared to survive it.

Signs of Faerie's involvement are everywhere, and it's going to take all Toby's nerve and all her allies to get her through this web of old secrets, older hatreds, and new deceits. If she can't find Gillian before time runs out, her own child will pay the price. 

One question remains: Who in Faerie remembered Gillian existed? And what do they stand to gain? No matter how this ends, Toby's life will never be the same.

I don't know how Seanan McGuire continues to write compelling installments of the October Daye series but she does. 

Night and Silence is the 12th in an urban fantasy series that is easily one of my top five "must reads".  This is one of those series that I would recommend starting at the bottom and reading your way up. October "Toby" Daye has too much backstory to simply start in the middle, although the author does do a good job of getting you up to speed if you've forgotten what happened in the previous book.  

One thing that Seanan McGuire does well is persecuting her MC. Toby's life is not sunshine and roses. Sometimes good, sometimes terrible, there are no quick fixes in Toby's world. McGuire's characters certainly suffer for the greater good, and sometimes for the lesser evil. I love that her characters not only change and grow but experience setbacks. Unlike authors whose characters develop in leaps and bounds, McGuire's are more two steps forward and one step back.  While there is romance, it takes a backseat to the storyline and character development. I appreciate that it's there, but if I want to read romance, Imma gonna read romance, know what I mean? 

While Night and Silence isn't my favorite of the twelve, it certainly is a great continuation of the series. If you love urban fantasy, especially fae urban fantasy, and you haven't read the October Daye series, do yourself a favor and pick it up!

  

About the Author

Hi! I'm Seanan McGuire, author of the Toby Daye series (Rosemary and Rue, A Local Habitation, An Artificial Night, Late Eclipses), as well as a lot of other things.
I'm also Mira Grant (www.miragrant.com), author of Feed and Deadline.
Born and raised in Northern California, I fear weather and am remarkably laid-back about rattlesnakes. I watch too many horror movies, read too many comic books, and share my house with two monsters in feline form, Lilly and Alice (Siamese and Maine Coon).

Website/Twitter

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's TTT is Back To School/Learning Themed. 

I decided to go with the nonfiction books I've read and enjoyed.

One little Globe. One whole World.
When your world vanishes and you're somewhere else. And the one you love is lost. Finding the way home takes on a new meaning. (3 x illustrations within.)

The debut psychological-horror novel from author Marty Thornley is a page-turning ride, a front row seat to a clinical trial gone horribly wrong. 

For Greg Owens, this was supposed to be a chance to end years of back pain and escape his reliance on pain pills. If it all worked out, he could maybe even get back the life he left behind as the pills took control.

Instead, as the patients are cured of their physical pain, they encounter a different sort of pain building inside them – obsessive thoughts, depression, self-destruction. The side-effects grow worse, and the suspense ratchets tighter. The patients want answers and violent revenge, setting them on a collision course with a crazed doctor, determined to protect his life's obsession.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

This week's TTT is books that will pull you out of a reading slump. For those of us in the blogging world, we are almost in competition with ourselves. We eat, breathe and sleep reading. We are not the average reader though. 

According to the research, Americans read a mean average of 12 books per year, and the typical (median) American has read four books in the past 12 months. 

Can you imagine only reading that few? I certainly can't. That's a bad couple of weeks for me! What happens though when we hit that reading slump and no book is "talking" to us? When our TBR starts piling up and there's no end in sight?

The monsters live inside of Kate Woodson. Chronic pain and a host of autoimmune diseases have robbed her of a normal, happy life. Her husband Andrew’s surprise of their dream Maine lake cottage for the summer is the gift of a lifetime. It’s beautiful, remote, idyllic, a place to heal.


 But they are not alone. Something is in the woods, screeching in the darkness, banging on the house, leaving animals for dead. Just like her body, Kate’s cottage becomes her prison. She and Andrew must fight to survive the creature that lurks in the dead of night. 

I just recently read Rattus New Yorkus (review here) so this is my second Hunter Shea review on Cats Luv Coffee. However, the two books couldn't be more different. 

Rattus New Yorkus is an over the top creature feature. It's the type of book that would have made a great B movie in the 80's. Horror and dark humor combined, RNY is a book that doesn't take itself too seriously. Creature then is its older, worldly big brother. If Rattus New Yorkus is campy horror movies like Food of the Gods and Lake Placid, then Creature is The Exorcist and The Shining.

You would think that a book called Creature would be pretty self-explanatory. Even though you know from the title that there will be some flavor of monster, there is
substantial misdirection and suspense building. Creature doesn't show all of its cards at once but carefully doles out its intentions. Shea continues slowly ramping up the dread until it becomes almost a presence of its own. It lopes along at a leisurely pace until exploding in the last few pages, yet the ending doesn't feel rushed. It happens exactly as it needs to.

Creature is emotionally visceral. If I found out even a fourth of the way into this book that there was no horror, nothing paranormal, I would have still kept reading. That's how much I enjoyed the characters. Amazingly, the monster takes a backseat to Kate and Andrew and of course, Buttons, the dog. You truly get invested in their lives and their relationship. Kate's illness seems insurmountable. She is so very vulnerable physically, yet her will is unbowed. Andrew's anger at being so powerless in the face of her condition is as palpable as Katie's frustration at being tethered to such an ineffectual body. By the time we meet the creature, we are so sure that we know what to anticipate. Shea takes those expectations and completely shatters them. You won't be expecting a monster book to break your heart, but that's exactly what Creature does.  

This is not just a story about a creature lurking in the woods. Instead, it speaks volumes about the human condition and our propensity to love absolutely.

About the Author

Hunter Shea is the product of a misspent childhood watching scary movies, reading forbidden books and wishing Bigfoot would walk past his house. He doesn’t just write about the paranormal – he actively seeks out the things that scare the hell out of people and experiences them for himself. Hunter’s novels can even be found on display at the International Cryptozoology Museum. His video podcast, Monster Men, is one of the most watched horror podcasts in the world. He’s a bestselling author of over 13 (lucky number!) books, all of them written with the express desire to quicken heartbeats and make spines tingle. Living with his wonderful family and two cats, he’s happy to be close enough to New York City to gobble down Gray’s Papaya hotdogs when the craving hits.

Website/Facebook/Twitter

I received this book from Flame Tree Press

in exchange for an honest review.

FLAME TREE PRESS is the new fiction imprint of Flame Tree Publishing. Launching in 2018 the list brings together brilliant new authors and the more established; the award winners, and exciting, original voices.

HER BLOOD. HER LOVE. HER FREEDOM. 

“How many of my sins will have to be paid for in blood?”

Sixteen-year-old Bethany Keatley finally has the healthy body and looks she’s always desired. But the price she’s had to pay has left her traumatized. 
The only thing making her battle on is the memory of that kiss with Jeremiah.
Now miles from him and living in Florida with an aunt she's never met, shocking revelations about her parents are too much to bear. After collapsing from exhaustion and shock, Bethany wakes in a hospital bed awaiting test results—results that might lead to the discovery of her unusual butterfly blood. 

But that’s the least of Bethany’s concerns when the doctor informs her she’s infected with a parasite and without immediate treatment, she’ll die.

When it comes to talented new recruits at the Federal Underworld Agency, Nora Jacobs is only half the story. The Devil to Pay is the first book in a companion series to Nora Jacobs, set in the same urban fantasy Detroit, sharing several supporting characters (hello, Nick Gorgeous), but with a new main character, Shayne Davies. This series can be enjoyed on its own, but readers of the Nora Jacobs books will be more familiar with the world and its characters.

As a fox shifter, Shayne Davies gets no respect in an underworld run by the fearsome and powerful—werewolves and vampires, sorcerers, demons, and mythical faerie creatures. Even at home, Shayne is still treated like the brat of the pack. Her mom constantly nags; her intended (but unwanted) mate ensures plenty of awkward silences, and Shayne is even expected to act submissive to the pack’s future alpha…a six year old.

Yeah. Time for Plan B.

All Shayne wants is to prove that she’s got what it takes to run with the big dogs, not just to feel like she matters, but, more importantly, to give a big middle finger to anybody who ever doubted her. Which is why she is constantly hounding Nick Gorgeous to make her an agent at the “Double D”, the Detroit Division of the FUA. That’s an easy “No” for Gorgeous, who keeps a strict “No Shayne Davies” policy.

Well, never say never. When mysterious underworld criminals steal a load of bomb materials, the FUA picks up a messy case nobody wants to touch. It’s bad enough that a demon horde is involved, but now the annoying FBI has sent out an agent to babysit the investigation. To make matters worse, notorious master vampire Henry Stadther has control of what may be the only key to breaking the case: a human detective with a beautiful man face, but a broken past.

The whole thing’s a hopeless disaster.
So guess what, Shayne? You’re hired!

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About the Author

Jackie May is a pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team. Josh and Kelly live in Phoenix, Arizona with their four children and their cat, Mr. Darcy. Jackie May is their only daughter. (And she keeps asking for her cut of the profits since we’re using her name.)

Website / Goodreads / Facebook / Twitter

We live in an age of wonders.

Modern medicine has conquered or contained many of the diseases that used to carry children away before their time, reducing mortality and improving health. Vaccination and treatment are widely available, not held in reserve for the chosen few. There are still monsters left to fight, but the old ones, the simple ones, trouble us no more.

Or so we thought. For with the reduction in danger comes the erosion of memory, as pandemics fade from memory into story into fairy tale. Those old diseases can’t have been so bad, people say, or we wouldn’t be here to talk about them. They don’t matter. They’re never coming back.

How wrong we could be.